Arsenal were in a great run of form when they travelled to the Dell to face

Southampton in April 1988. They were unbeaten in eight league games and, even
though they were missing Tony Adams and David O’Leary, they must have been
feeling confident when they heard that Southampton would be without striker
Danny Wallace. His replacement had impressed in youth football and had made a
couple of appearances from the bench in recent weeks, but the prospect of
facing Alan Shearer rather than Wallace must have appealed to the Arsenal
defence.